This invention relates to equipment for generating musical sound effects and particularly to holders for such devices.
Musical sound effect generators are quite popular with instrumental groups and are used in conjunction with the playing of instruments, typically electric guitars, to create desired sound effects with the music. The sound effect generators are of the rack mount type or may be the foot pedal type, which are operated by foot movement of the instrument player. The sound effect generators are used in conjunction with the instrument and an amplifier such that the instrument is connected to the amplifier for amplifying the sounds generated by the instrument and for play through a speaker. The sound effect generators are connected to the amplifier so that the sound effects are mixed with the music generated by the musical instrument. The sound effect generators are typically placed on the floor near where the musician is playing. There are often several such foot pedal operated sound effect generators in use and which may be scattered about the stage floor during a performance and interconnected by wiring to the amplifier so that there tend to be numerous wires and cables on stage. These can become entangled, the musician may trip over them and set up and take down time is employed to bring order to the assembly. Pedal boards, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,055 are sometimes used and are helpful in resolving the disorder caused by multiple foot pedals, rack mounts and runs of cables. The goal is to keep the various sound effect generators as neat and orderly as possible and to reduce or keep orderly the webbing of cables of wires that criss-cross the stage. In conjunction with keeping the sound effects generators orderly and contained during performance, it is also desirable to provide a handy container for transporting the sound effect generators and retaining them in an orderly manner. To this end, applicant has invented a unique pedal board designed to overcome the above described difficulties and intended to resolve deficiencies as seen in the prior art.
The objects of the present invention are:
a) to provide a pedal board for receiving a plurality of foot operated musical sound effect generators;
b) to provide such a pedal board which comprises a box like receptacle with a removable lid for orderly transport of the sound effect generators;
c) to provide such a pedal board which includes a plurality of tiers for placing the sound effect generators on in such a manner that they can be readily accessed by the foot of a musician;
d) to provide such a pedal board which includes a power supply and audio circuit interface controls to make more orderly the amount of wires and cables which would otherwise be necessary to connect the sound effect generators to amplifiers;
e) to provide such a pedal board which has variable height tiers for placing the pedals thereon so as to accommodate pedals of various size and including matching the tilt of adjacent tiers so that an elongate or larger than normal size foot pedal can be placed across adjacent tiers; and
f) to provide such a pedal board which is inexpensive to construct and particularly designed for the intended purpose.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the drawings.
A pedal board assembly for receiving a plurality of musical sound effect generators comprises a box-like receptacle with a removable lid. The receptacle includes a generally level top tier including a power supply and audio circuit interface, a titled middle tier, and a lower tier which can be arranged in a level mode or a tilted mode, the tilted mode matching the pitch of the middle tier so that large sound effect generators may be placed across to span both the middle tier and the lower tier.